Just the Servant: An Intersectional Critique of Servant Leadership

Liu, H

Just the Servant: An Intersectional Critique of Servant Leadership

Liu, H

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Business Ethics, 2019, 156 (4), pp. 1099 - 1112
Issue Date:: 2019-06-10

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Liu, H https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4211-0932	en_US
dc.date.available	2017-06-30	en_US
dc.date.issued	2019-06-10	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Business Ethics, 2019, 156 (4), pp. 1099 - 1112	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0167-4544	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/115018
dc.description.abstract	© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V. Servant leadership offers a compelling ideal of self-sacrificing individuals who put the needs of others before their own and cultivate a culture of growth in their organisations. Although the theory’s attempts to emphasise the moral, emotional and relational dimensions of leadership are laudable, it has primarily assumed a decontextualised view of leadership untouched by power. This article aims to problematise servant leadership by undertaking an intersectional analysis of an Asian cis-male heterosexual senior manager in Australia. Through in-depth interviews with the manager and his staff, the article shows how his attempts to practice servant leadership were informed by intersecting power dynamics of race, gender, sexuality, age and class that subordinated him to white power. The findings demonstrate the ways servant leadership is necessarily embedded in wider power structures that shape who gets to be a “servant leader” and who remains merely a “servant”.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Business Ethics	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s10551-017-3633-0	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Applied Ethics	en_US
dc.title	Just the Servant: An Intersectional Critique of Servant Leadership	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	156	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
utslib.for	2201 Applied Ethics	en_US
utslib.for	1505 Marketing	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	156	en_US

Abstract:

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V. Servant leadership offers a compelling ideal of self-sacrificing individuals who put the needs of others before their own and cultivate a culture of growth in their organisations. Although the theory’s attempts to emphasise the moral, emotional and relational dimensions of leadership are laudable, it has primarily assumed a decontextualised view of leadership untouched by power. This article aims to problematise servant leadership by undertaking an intersectional analysis of an Asian cis-male heterosexual senior manager in Australia. Through in-depth interviews with the manager and his staff, the article shows how his attempts to practice servant leadership were informed by intersecting power dynamics of race, gender, sexuality, age and class that subordinated him to white power. The findings demonstrate the ways servant leadership is necessarily embedded in wider power structures that shape who gets to be a “servant leader” and who remains merely a “servant”.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/115018